Literature Appetizer
Ben Kusserow
A Northern Appalachian's Journey

Recently I just finished Appalachia North by Matthew Ferrence. In it, he recounts the complex relationship he still has with the land as a Northern Appalachian. Typically when I finish a book I write a Literature Appetizer to get people a taste of what they will find. Since his book is such a personal journey, I would not do it justice by recounting his life.

Many of his experiences reflect my own experience growing up in Western PA. So instead of condensing his journey, I thought I would condense mine.

The Hero’s Journey is a common literary structure where the hero of the story departs home to do a great act, and then returns victorious. My Northern Appalachian Journey is a bit different, but has a similar structure of three parts; Living in Water, Succeeding by Leaving, and The Mountains are Calling.

A Northern Appalachian's Journey

North Cascades Institute

The Beast in the Garden by David Baron: Literature Appetizer

The Beast in the Garden by David Baron: Literature Appetizer

On the last day of our ten day hike through the North Cascades, we decided to finish with a sunrise. Our last night on the trail we made sure to set everything up clearly so when we went to pack it in the morning, nothing would be misplaced.

Waking up at 3am, we walked slowly through the forest, up the mountain, and ascended just as the sun was rising. As much as this sounds like a fairy tale, we also could have been in significant danger. Yes, there are the usual risks such as dehydration or twisting an ankle, but we were also in mountain lion territory. As a corpuscular hunter, we were walking at the exact time they love to hunt. To mitigate being a cat’s meal, we made sure to always be within eyesight of one another as well as talk (or sing) loudly.

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Soaked with Knowledge: Kulshan Creek at Rasar State Park

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Soaked with Knowledge: Kulshan Creek at Rasar State Park

Youth have a unique skill in creating adventures out of anything. So even though I had been to tree planting on Cornet Bay and the Migratory Bird Festival with theKulshan Creek Neighborhood Program, both large and expansive day trips, our last trip to Rasar State Park felt no less adventurous!

The day started off wet. That might seem ubiquitous living in western Washington but we had been without rain for two full weeks at this point. The rain was a welcome change from weeks of dry, hot, sunny days.

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Watch your nose: Understanding White-Nose Syndrome and the Bats of the North Cascades National Park

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Watch your nose: Understanding White-Nose Syndrome and the Bats of the North Cascades National Park

On March 11, hikers found the sick bat about 30 miles east of Seattle near North Bend, and took it to Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) for care. The bat died two days later, and had visible symptoms of a skin infection common in bats with White Nose Syndrome. -U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

This comes across as incredibly serious and dire news for educators, government works, and bat enthusiasts along the west coast. But if you have never heard of white-nose syndrome (WNS), or even knew we had bats in the North Cascades National Park, you might not know how or why this is dire.